Tensions rose among the five friends as they gazed upon the malevolent egg. Before their very eyes, the light egg began to bulge and warp, causing the egg to seem less "magical" and more membranous. Rather than uniformly growing in size it slowly deformed as an unknown pressure built, waiting to rupture like a grotesque overinflated balloon.

“EVERYONE OUT!” yelled Adam. His heart was pounding as he watched the egg slowly grow, its green and black light softly coloring the space in an aura of decay. Images of the beasts from the previous trial flashed through his mind. The bully that took the boar skull getting smashed, Luisa’s body being yanked out of the tree hollow after she stabbed the beast, Terrance having to be left behind during their wild dash to the canyon wall.

Those deaths happened right before his eyes and he was unable to help them. He couldn’t let his friends die as well.

He looked at Otto, “Can you get them over the wall without breaking it?” As the system had reminded them, he and Otto were Forerunners. Part of their responsibility as Forerunners was to help the others around them.

Otto stood with his eyes wide. He had never seen Adam make such a stern face before. Something more fundamental than his body had changed in Adam, his eyes held an intensity that he never before would have associated with his friend.

“Yea, I can do that. What are you going to do?”

Adam turned back to the light egg, “I am going to use my skill” he said, “I'm not sure what is going to happen but I am going to change.”

Otto saw a flash of anxiety flit across Adam’s face as he continued, “Can you take them–”

“It’s too late!” called Henry from the other side of the space. He had taken out his fencing foil and had shakily placed himself between the two girls and the egg.

Emi, still holding the now sharpened and sheathed jian, and Sylvia were climbing over the barrier as the egg burst apart, sending a foul smelling gel-like substance splattering across the mostly cleared floor. Standing in the center of the eruption was a large hunched humanoid figure. The shape was vaguely feminine but any resemblance to their friend was gone. A black oily substance oozed from a massive hole through the figure's stomach, running down its furred legs to pool on the floor. Its upper body was clothed in torn rags and long bone-like claws extended from the monster's hands. Lastly, the head was a deerlike skull that was directly attached to the neck with a set of large broken antlers protruding from the top, its eyes two toxic green flames floating in the eye sockets.

What was once Adam's beautiful girlfriend was now a monster of a caliber beyond that of the beasts he had experienced in his trial.

The monster that was once Jessica stood tall, close to the same height as Otto, and let out an unearthly shriek. The sound echoed throughout the building sending chills down the spines of all that heard it. Adam, with his new bestial aspects and mildly enhanced sensory abilities took a step back and felt an instant increase to his Dexterity as his passive skill Flight reacted to the danger.

This was the first time that he had felt the effects of a skill and he was glad for it. The increased dexterity helped him navigate away from her as the monster took a step towards him, scenting the air with a long black tongue that slithered out of the deer skull. The creature had caught his scent and lunged in his direction.

As he darted backward towards the barrier, he could feel her gaining on him. Adam saw a piece of rusted rebar with concrete on the end and snagged it as he moved, ready to defend himself. The small wall they had built wasn’t anything special, just bits of broken furniture and the remains from broken walls, but it worked as a quick obstruction. Adam rolled over the remains of a table with the monster on his heels, and spun, the improvised club swinging behind him just in time. The club collided with one of her outstretched claws as she struck out at him.

Adam’s quick movement allowed him to catch a glimpse of the others as he held the monster's attention. Sylvia and Emi had been pulled over the barrier by Otto and were moving towards the exit, trying to escape the building. Sylvia and Emi kept looking back but were pulled along by their massive friend.

He didn’t know how his skill was going to work but he knew it was about time to try it out.

All he needed was an opportunity to transform. Luckily for him, the force of the strike from his club turned the monster to face the wall just as a thin sword stabbed into her side. After he was moved out of the barrier, Henry had chosen to stay and help Adam instead of fleeing with the others.

Adam watched as Henry’s foil flashed multiple times, piercing into the torso of the creature and heard the beast hiss in pain.

His instincts flared as the creature loaded up for a strike. Adam could feel a faint energy around Henry’s foil and knew that this upcoming attack was too much for him to take head on. He grabbed his lanky friend by the belt loop and pulled him back from the debris just as she unleashed her attack.

Black ichor wrapped around her bone claws, enlarging them to disproportionate sizes before slashing through the barrier like it wasn’t even there.

Adam and Henry tumbled backwards out of the way of the skill and watched as the bits of furniture rotted and corroded at the touch of what could only be mana enhanced black ichor.

Seeing the damage it could do, the two friends did the only thing they could think of: they ran as fast as they could after the others.

Fighting is a good idea but I don't even know what my skill will do yet. I need time to prepare.

“Do you think you can hold your own for a second against that thing?” Adam asked as they sprinted through the hall.

“Are you crazy?! She is basically a boss monster and we are still level 1! There is no way I can fight that thing on my own.”

The two of them ran around the corner towards the entrance of the building and were surprised to see four figures before them. Sylvia, Emi and Otto were standing with weapons drawn alongside an older gentleman with dark suntanned skin and long braided hair. He was in athletic shorts and a t-shirt and was oddly barefoot. While his clothes didn’t match his usual attire, Adam recognized the man as Professor Michael Johnson, the Professor of Archeology at the college. Johnson was a well known professor on campus that specialized in Indigenous Cultures of North America. All of this flashed through Adam's mind as the two of them ran towards their friends.

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A loud crash echoed behind them as the monster slammed into the wall, unable to turn the corner at its speed. “Keep coming this way! It’s right behind you!” the professor called out. He turned to Otto and Sylvia and yelled “Now!”

Then he took his shirt off.

The weirdness of seeing the old man rip his shirt off in this situation was lost on Adam as he saw fur begin to cover the old man's expanding body as he fell to the ground on all fours.

As he collapsed to the ground, Otto and Sylvia stepped forward and threw stones at the monster as hard as they could. Sylvia didn't manage to hit, but the second stone that Otto threw bashed into one of the monster's legs, hobbling it for a moment. At that moment, Emi surprised them both by sprinting straight at the monster. Once she was right in front of it, she drew the jian out of its sheath and in one fluid motion, slashed at the creature's hobbled leg.

The sword bit into it's flesh but failed to do any significant damage, leaving Emi vulnerable to the beasts powerful backhand blow across her chest. The force of the strike threw Emi back into the wall, cracking the weather worn decorative tiles as she slid to the floor unconscious.

As the closest to the monster, Henry dove towards Emi, somehow managing to redirect a secondary strike aimed for his small friend's head. His redirection cost him though, as he had to trigger another use of his Strike skill, using up the minor amount of mana he had. Henry felt a tugging sensation through his torso as mana from his body worked its way through his arm and reinforced his fencing foil.

His blade hummed with an invisible energy as he attempted to redirect the slashing claws. While he managed to move the bone claws away from Emi’s prone figure, he did so by throwing his weight against his blade, resulting in a burning cut across his shoulder blades. Strike was an offensive skill, one that allowed his next attack to deal more damage, and his attempt to utilize it in a defensive manner went completely against its very nature.

Adam, who had been in front of Henry due to Flight increasing his abilities while moving away from danger, wasn’t able to turn back to help as quickly as Henry had been. However, this did allow for him to witness something incredible.

From where Professor Johnson had fallen, rose a massive white shape. A snarling noise reverberated through the entryway as what could only be described as a dire wolf leapt into the building towards the monster.

Something pinged in the back of Adam’s mind as he saw the old man change right in front of him and he knew. The canine form of Professor Johnson rushed past Adam, locking eyes with the man before it fully passed him. He is just like me.

Sensing a new threat, the monster growled and turned away from the injured bodies of Henry and Emi on the floor, only to be body slammed through a double doorway into a conference room by the wolf before it could fully register the new threat.

Sylvia ran to Adam while Otto ran to the others. Grabbing him by the shoulder Sylvia asked, “Are you ok?! Did she hurt you at all?” She didn’t even let him answer before she quickly checked him over. Finding no signs of injury, Sylvia quickly rushed over to Emi and Henry instead. Despite the fact that she was currently working as an instructor, she was still a medical professional and knew how to tend to most wounds. Seeing the damage done to Henry's back she ripped her jacket off and started putting pressure across it. “Adam, I need you to hold this on Henry's back to slow the bleeding!”

While waiting for Adam, Sylvia turned her attention to Emi. The diminutive woman only had a single visible injury: a compound fracture in her left forearm. Otto was gently holding her and after a glance at Sylvia said, “Syl, it looks pretty bad but… I think I can reset the bone. ” He looked towards the sound of the fighting, “I don’t think we should stay here, Professor Johnson came from next door and said, everything has changed out there.”

Otto was a gentle soul all things considered and he was nervous to get to safety. Sylvia couldn’t blame him, their lives were flipped on their heads and one of her closest friends since moving here was now trying to kill them all.

“We are going to have to risk it, Otto. I am not even sure if Johnson can beat that thing.” It was hard to think of that monster and Jessica being the same creature, but it was just another fact of their new fucked up reality.

Adam took over for Sylvia and held the bundled jacket over Henry’s wound. While his friends reset Emi’s arm and discussed what to do next, Adams' focus was on the sounds of the fighting in the nearby conference room. Occasionally, he could see flashes of white or black as they fought back and forth across the room.

He could feel the shaking rumble of their heavy stomps and body slams against the walls of the structure through every fiber of his being. He could hear the blood rushing to his muscles, urging him to join the fight.

Henry groaned in pain as he sat forward, “Where is my sword?”

Adam helped his friend sit forward and handed the foil to his friend. As it was a weapon that was designed for sport, not for actual combat, the blade had not held up during the previous exchange with the monster, snapping just past the halfway mark. Luckily, the weapon wasn’t completely useless as the break still had a sharp point.

He gripped the hilt of his blade and made to stand up, “We need to help the professor.” Adam stood with Henry, still applying the pressure to his back. He tucked his broken foil through his belt and went to gather the jian from where Emi had dropped it before.

“Even after turning into that… awesome wolf, I can’t imagine him beating that thing,” Henry continued. Even injured and bleeding, Henry still had an air of excitement about him.

Adam nodded, “Honestly, I agree, but an injured swordsman isn’t going to be able to provide as much help as he will need. You should stay in the doorway and help if it gets close to our exit.” he turned to Otto, “Can you throw some more rocks at that thing? I am going to go in and help.”

Otto gently moved Emi across to an old couch before grabbing a couple head sized stones and eyed Adam again, “You and the professor have the same Pursuit, don’t you.”

Adam sighed and nodded again, “Yeah, I think we do” he started taking off his clothes and laying them on the ground as he talked, “I don’t know what I will change into once I activate this skill but if there ever comes a time when I attack one of you, I want you to kill me.”

"Kill you?! No way could I--"

"Otto, I mean it." Adam locked eyes with his friend. "Jessi... Jessica is already a monster that is trying to kill us. Dude, I don't know what your Trial was like but mine was bloody and brutal. Monsters killed and ate people in front of me and I barely survived." The space was silent aside from the sounds of fighting in the conference room. "If I attack anyone, I want you to fight back and kill me. Don't let me change back with the others blood on my hands."

Concern etched across his face, Otto conceded, "Fine. Ill do my best. Just... don't attack us. Please."

Turning into a beast was obviously powerful based on what he was seeing from the professor, but the warning that the skill came with made him nervous. During his statement to Otto, Adam nudged Henry as well. Of their small group, he was the only one that actually had any combat abilities and he hoped that he would be able to stop him if he ever became a monster. The wounded swordsman moved Adam's clothing out of the way and quickly nodded. He would do what was needed.

The uncharacteristically cold winds brushed against his body as he knelt onto the ground and activated his skill, Bestial Transformation.

Loud cracks and painful groans filled the air as his body shifted and expanded outward. I hope this pain doesn’t happen every time, he thought. The pain faded faster than he thought it would and Adam felt completely different. Despite having a completely new body shape, Adam felt like his new form was… comfortable and correct, like it was a form he should have had forever.

He stood up on his four legs and turned to face his friends. Their pale faces stared up at him with only Otto’s face being above his own. While he wanted to stay with them, his new form increased his senses exponentially, and there was one thing that filled his nostrils: blood.

Professor Johnson was losing.